Leaving the last of them behind, she threaded her way to Wolfe, standing apart from them all. In a throaty voice she said, “And then there’s you, love…the crown jewel of them all.”
Wolfe just stared back at her.
“I’ve been coveting ye all along,” Rose said. “Near instantaneous healing. And when you couple that with the hardened skeleton of, say, a vampire, or the invulnerability of an Achilles…well, I think you’d have a body that could…fight just about anybody, don’t you?” Her smile was alive, eyes alight with possibility that, in another time…Wolfe might have found…
Frightening.
Wolfe gazed at her, smokily. “I never needed that. Wolfe’s skin was hard enough.”
“Oh, I’m sure,” she said silkily. “You’re a big, brute man, aren’t you? A legend among metas. I’ve heard the tales of you from way back when. Slaughter was always your forte, wasn’t it?” She leaned in and breathed on him. It smelled like blood. “Well, it’s mine, too.”
He looked her over, small frame that reminded him vaguely of…but no. She was too tall, her hair too red. “You…are a granddaughter or great-grandaughter of Hades,” he finally said.
She smiled. “You’re damned right I am. And my question to you is…will ye serve me as ye served him? Protect me…the way you protected him all those years ago?” Her eyes seemed to glow with madness. “Make me…invulnerable…to her?”
“Don’t do it, Wolfe,” Zack said, still upon his knees, like all the life had been wrung out of him and the pavement clung to him.
“This bitch just stole us out of her head,” Eve Kappler said, voice harder than Wolfe had heard it in years.
“And…she is a bitch,” Bjorn said. He spoke between gasps, agony still bleeding out from what Rose had done to him.
“Enough,” Wolfe said, breaking his quiet as he gazed into Rose’s eyes. He could see the hunger there, waiting for his answer. There was strength, she’d already shown, so much…and a cold, a cunning…she was predatory, always seeking the next prey… “You are a true inheritor of death…” he said, his own a low rasp.
“No,” Bastian said quietly.
“This is not right,” Gavrikov said.
“…and I am with you…” Wolfe said, as Rose smiled sweetly at him, “Inheritor of Death.”
Sienna Nealon Will Return in
Badder
Out of the Box, Book 16
Coming September 12, 2017!
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Author’s Note
What do I say about that? I’ve been planning this moment, that ending, since before the original Girl in the Box series ended. In fact, I had a concept for how I wanted to do this entire Scotland trilogy – that’s right, Sienna will be in Scotland for three books – and I can say, as I write this, I’m well into work on book 2 – it’s going marvelously so far. I’d originally planned for it to happen around book 7 or so of Out of the Box, but…I kept having ideas. And I kept having to put off my research trip to Scotland. So those two factors conspired to land us here, now, at book 15 and…yeah, that just happened.
I don’t want to belabor the point, but there are obviously a lot of unanswered questions at this juncture. The answers are withheld intentionally, for dramatic effect. Wait, dear reader, for the truth is out there. By the time the Scotland trilogy ends, it will be almost like an epic fantasy played out, an enormous, sprawling arc of a story that will get to the root of exactly why Rose is the way she is…and, of course, why she hates Sienna enough to do what she’s done here.
To wrap things up, let me say thanks for reading! If you want to know immediately when future books become available, take sixty seconds and sign up for my NEW RELEASE EMAIL ALERTS by CLICKING HERE. I don’t sell your information and I only send out emails when I have a new book out. The reason you should sign up for this is because I don’t always set release dates, and even if you’re following me on Facebook (robertJcrane (Author)) or Twitter (@robertJcrane), it’s easy to miss my book announcements because…well, because social media is an imprecise thing.
Come join the discussion on my website: http://www.robertjcrane.com!
Cheers,
Robert J. Crane
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Editorial/Literary Janitorial duties performed by Nick Bowman and Jeffrey Bryan. Final proofing was once more handled by the illustrious Jo Evans. Any errors you see in the text, however, are the result of me rejecting changes.
Linda Short, Adam Perry and John Clifford lent their Scottish expertise to this book, helping me to make it sound a little more authentic (hopefully). Any errors or inaccuracies are the fault of the author, because I’m kind of a screwup sometimes.
The cover was once more designed with exceeding skill by Karri Klawiter of Artbykarri.com.
The formatting was provided by nickbowmanediting.com.
Once more, thanks to my parents, my in-laws, my kids and my wife, for helping me keep things together.
World of Sanctuary
Epic Fantasy
Defender: The Sanctuary Series, Volume One
Avenger: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Two
Champion: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Three
Crusader: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Four
Sanctuary Tales, Volume One - A Short Story Collection
Thy Father’s Shadow: The Sanctuary Series, Volume 4.5
Master: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Five
Fated in Darkness: The Sanctuary Series, Volume 5.5
Warlord: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Six
Heretic: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Seven
Legend: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Eight
Ghosts of Sanctuary: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Nine* (Coming 2018, at earliest.)
A Haven in Ash: Ashes of Luukessia, Volume One* (Coming Fall 2017!)
The Girl in the Box
and
Out of the Box
Contemporary Urban Fantasy
Alone: The Girl in the Box, Book 1
Untouched: The Girl in the Box, Book 2
Soulless: The Girl in the Box, Book 3
Family: The Girl in the Box, Book 4
Omega: The Girl in the Box, Book 5
Broken: The Girl in the Box, Book 6
Enemies: The Girl in the Box, Book 7
Legacy: The Girl in the Box, Book 8
Destiny: The Girl in the Box, Book 9
Power: The Girl in the Box, Book 10
Limitless: Out of the Box, Book 1
In the Wind: Out of the Box, Book 2
Ruthless: Out of the Box, Book 3
Grounded: Out of the Box, Book 4
Tormented: Out of the Box, Book 5
Vengeful: Out of the Box, Book 6
Sea Change: Out of the Box, Book 7
Painkiller: Out of the Box, Book 8
Masks: Out of the Box, Book 9
Prisoners: Out of the Box, Book 10
Unyielding: Out of the Box, Book 11
Hollow: Out of the Box, Book 12
Small Things: Out of the Box, Book 14
Hunters: Out of the Box, Book 15
Badder: Out of the Box, Book 16* (Coming September 12, 2017!)
Southern Watch
Contemporary Urban Fantasy
Called: Southern Watch, Book 1
Depths: Southern Watch, Book 2
Corrupted: Southern Watch, Book 3
Unearthed: Southern Wat
ch, Book 4
Legion: Southern Watch, Book 5
Starling: Southern Watch, Book 6* (Coming Fall 2017!)
The Shattered Dome Series
(with Nicholas J. Ambrose)
Sci-Fi
Voiceless: The Shattered Dome, Book 1
Unspeakable: The Shattered Dome, Book 2* (Coming 2017 – Tentatively)
The Mira Brand Adventures
Contemporary Urban Fantasy
The World Beneath: The Mira Brand Adventures, Book 1* (Coming August 2017!)
The Tide of Ages: The Mira Brand Adventures, Book 2* (Coming August 2017!)
The City of Lies: The Mira Brand Adventures, Book 3* (Coming August 2017!)
*Forthcoming, Subject to Change
Table of Contents
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Author’s Note
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Other Works by Robert J. Crane